Covering Winston County, Mississippi for over 118 years.

Main menu

Letter to the editor – Appreciated working with Chamber

by admin • June 4, 2014 • Comments Off on Letter to the editor – Appreciated working with Chamber

I was honored that someone with the Chamber of Commerce of Louisville made time to speak with me and learn more about our program despite so much activity going on in Louisville at the time with tornado recovery, Red Hills Festivals, and graduations. Kelli Wall met with me Tuesday, May 20 to learn more about Laird Senior Care, Beacon Intensive Outpatient Program in Philadelphia. It is a subsidiary of Laird Hospital in Union which is owned by Rush Health Systems based out of Meridian.
I was able to send her a letter prior to our meeting similar to what I am about to share with you about our program. The IOP is an Intensive Outpatient Program to help clients suffering with depression, anxiety and/or grief. It would also provide a great help and relief to those who suffered loss and stress during or after the tornado. It is designed to assist those 55 years old (can be younger if qualify)or older who would otherwise possibly need inpatient care in a geriatric-psychiatric facility. Many times someone is in need of more intensive therapy than seeing a psychiatrist once a month but may be reluctant or not need a 10 day to two week stay in an inpatient unit. That is where we come in.
These programs have been around for several years. There are 14 programs in this region.I have worked with this program in some way since 2007. I have seen it help many people who were suffering from depression or anxiety that had no idea the symptoms they were having even indicated depression or anxiety. There are many success stories. Some patients complete the program and do not need further help except from their primary MD. Others seek our help time and time again as they have discovered the value of group therapy.
Our program here in Philadelphia on Beacon Street runs 3 days per week on Mon, Wed. and Thurs. Our van driver begins his route sometimes as early as 7:30 to pick up patients in Louisville and Noxapater as well as other surrounding communities including the city of Philadelphia. Areas of service can vary based on the current case load. Our program is currently the only Laird IOP which would serve your area. Our groups start at 10:30 a.m. and clients usually sign out around 2 p.m. We have 2 groups before lunch. Lunch is served from Laird Hospital in Union. Our van driver delivers our lunch meal to the unit. Then, a third group is conducted after lunch. All other programs’ times of group and days of group can vary. A LCSW leads and conducts the group therapy as the RN monitors medical aspects of the clients and coordinates physician visits. Our psychiatrist, Jeffery McGilbra, M.D. visits the unit during the month ensuring each client is visited monthly.
Most people’s next question is cost. How much is this going to cost? Well, to pay staff and other expenses, it does cost to run a program like this but Laird accepts Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance. If anyone is interested, an assessment nurse will visit in their home at no cost, assess their condition, and relay the information about the patient to the psychiatrist to determine eligibility as well as collecting their insurance information to determine financial eligibility. If a client’s insurance or insurances does not pay the full amount, a charity application would be the next option. The assessment nurse is always available to assist clients in completing these forms. Clients would know the cost, if any, before committing to attending the group therapy sessions.
I just want to thank Kelli Wall for meeting with me and for Louisville’s hospitality during the Red Hills Festival. I had a great time at booth 113! Since the tornado April 28, 2014, my heart has gone out to those who have lost everything. Some lost loved ones. Others lost all or some of their possessions. Some lost both. After the F-4 tornado passed as people began searching and rescuing, trying to pick up the pieces that were left, all I wanted to do was to be able to fix it. I did know I couldn’t fix it over night even though that was my heart’s desire. I live at Four Corners, MS. Neither my home nor family was hurt. I am blessed but ,have been since that day, trying to help others who have had losses, I am also blessed to work with a program like Laird Senior Care which can help others in such a way to potentially give them a new lease on life. I would like to be a part of Louisville’s recovery as you rebuild and are restored. God bless you in that endeavor! Thank you.

MS PRESS

How to subscribe

We now have a subscription service for our website. If you are a current print subscriber, please email us at bookkeeping@winstoncountyjournal.com with your name, email address and mailing address, and you can access this content as part of your print subscription. If you don't have a print subscription, please choose one of the options offered to access our content. You can pay for an article or access to all articles for different lengths of time. Thanks for your continued support of The Winston County Journal.